Toy Story 3 - in 3D (includes trailer)
July 25th 2010 15:06
Toy Story 3 - in 3D
Unless you’re the age I was when I first saw Toy Story, then it’s a film that needs no introduction. 1995 was the year we first met Woody and Buzz Lightyear. The Disney animated film has, over time, proven to be one of the most popular animated films ever. 1999 saw Toy Story 2 come into production and now, 11 years later we have the third film, available in 2D and 3D. Unlike Shrek or Ice Age, the Toy Story trilogy presents something consistently special which maintained a quality standard and now, Toy Story 3, looks to set up camp at Disney top echelon of films like Up or Wall-E.
As far as the 3D version of Toy Story 3 goes, it’s one of the visually, most impressive animated films to date. Directed by Lee Unkrich (Monsters Inc., Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo), who, like many of the Disney Pixar creative team, is a jack of all trades. Unkrich has worked as a director, editor (A Bug’s Life), actor/voice (Toy Story 2), as well as a writer on T.S. 3, which once again includes Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump) as the voice of Woody and Tim Allen (For Richer Or Poorer) as the voice of Buzz Lightyear. It also features some new toys and figurines that come to life with the unique personalities that can put a smile on the faces of children and adults, that also adds Barbie and Ken to the mix this time. A treasure chest of well known actors lend their talents to the cast, including, Michael Keaton (Beatle Juice), Timothy Dalton (License To Kill), Joan Cusack (My Sister’s Keeper) Ned Beatty (Deliverance), Don Rickles (Casino) and more.
T.S. 3 acknowledges it’s long absence from the cinemas by making the owner of Buz, Woody, Mr. Potato Head and Co., Andy, no longer a child, but a 17 year old who by now has outgrown his toys. As Andy is getting ready for College and preparing to move out of home, the toys, which come to life, sharing in a world of their own when ever they are alone, are mistakenly delivered to a day-care centre instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college. It's now up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home. Unfortunately, the day-care centre is run by a dictatorial teddy bear (Ned Beatty) and escaping and finding their way back to Andy’s attic won’t be so easy.
While I was immediately struck by Toy Story 3’s charm, I initially wondered if I was going to go the distance. Toy Story 3 seems mainly targeted toward a pre-teen audience, it’s all heart, smiles and laughter and the sweetness runs thick, clearly abandoning the profound social commentary of Wall-E or the darker themes of Up – but then, I suddenly noticed something happening to me which was completely unexpected. Toy Story 3 powerfully harnessed my inner child, tapping into simpler emotions, that only a child can know. Toy Story 3 is an experience filled with the magic you once felt, long ago when you played with your favourite figurine or stuffed animal, and reminds adults, with all their daily stresses, that nostalgic emotion of what it once felt like to be a child and have the luxury to think only about what was right in front of you. As Toy Story 3 played my heart like a violin, I began to feel elated, I wanted to hug this film by the end of it’s journey.
Toy story 3 employs an old plot line which feels quite familiar, a formula for family films that’s been used many times, and this actually works to the film’s advantage. By telling a story that’s tried and true, it works to put the character’s in the spot light. We know where this will all go - but that’s not the point - like our once upon a time play sessions with our favourite toys, where each toy had a special place in the scheme of things - it’s their character’s, personalities, and specialties as that individual toy, which is highlighted here with brilliant humour and boundless imagination, that will steal the show, moving everything forward as it entertains us in frequently inventive ways. The physical comedy of Woody recalls the likes of Charlie Chaplin, the romance between Barbie and Ken will appeal to our childish delights, as well as our self awareness of the childish behaviour adults can have at times. All the character’s are as unique as they are hilarious, with all their quirks which make the film’s acting and writing so appealing as a family film. All the jokes are delivered with a knowing smile and a wink, assuring that adults don’t feel left out of the fun.
The film’s musical score mickey mouses it’s character’s actions as they move along, enforcing it’s effect as everything unfolds, adding to your investment over each tiny moment. The music helps to highlight the characters, the comedy and also, amazingly enough, the dramatic tension which as a grown man I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit how successfully it worked on me, as I found myself holding my breath in certain instances, while Woody and Buzz got themselves into trouble.
It also just happens to be that Toy Story 3 is technically astounding. While the human characters in Toy Story 3 have a colourful but basic appearance, clearly lacking the detail of the human face and flesh tones (and this isn’t that much of a criticism, since it’s the toys that are most important here), there were images in many of the shots that I had to do a double takes to just check that I wasn’t looking at a real world image. Some of the computerized animation comes closer than you can imagine to looking like live action, it has to be seen to be believed. The 3D elements of the film’s presentation accentuate this illusion of reality, stunningly used to increase the depth of focus, giving everything infinite detail and clarity and as a result, lending itself to the appeal of the film’s imagination.
This visual component lifts Toy Story 3 to grand heights, urging us to roll out the red carpet for it’s startling graphic and photographic perfections. It’s this alone that makes Toy Story 3 special. There’s a big part of me that wishes that Toy Story 3 had some of the depth of Up or Wall-E but if it did it would lose it’s magical innocence, that special kind of intoxication where you can once again experience the joy of being a child and being wrapped up into a delightful world of imagination.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
i still haven't seen Toy Story 3, but like many did enjoy the first two,
From your review seems you were suitably impressed. A verdict I have heard repeated several time now giving me hope for another enjoyable trip into childhood nostalgia.
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
Try to see it in 3D. Thanks for dropping by
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
Then again, it does reduce us grown men to blithering, teary-eyed fools by the end so there's probably more at stake here than we'd like to admit!!
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
The visuals in here were amazing David - so many things in this film I had to do a double take to check that I wasnt starring at the real thing.
I did enjoy Timothy Dalton as the shhhooing hedgehog character and the voice and image of Beatty and lottsa went well together.